The Armstrong Lie: Leigh Paatsch review

INCISIVE as it is infuriating, The Armstrong Lie chronicles the greatest fraud ever perpetuated in the history of organised sport.

Inside information ... the contributors have plenty of damning stories to tell.

THE ARMSTRONG LIE (M)

Rating: Four stars

Director: Alex Gibney (We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks)

Starring: Lance Armstrong, George Hincapie, Frankie Andreu, Phil Liggett

The winner faked it all

INCISIVE as it is infuriating, The Armstrong Lie chronicles the greatest fraud ever perpetuated in the history of organised sport.

Between the years of 1999 and 2005, Texas-born cyclist (and renowned cancer survivor) Lance Armstrong took out the Tour de France an amazing seven consecutive times.

Then how he did it finally caught up with him. Evidence emerged of the ruthless regimen Armstrong designed to secure those wins: a systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs and blood-doping techniques that still boggle any rational mind.

Leading documentary filmmaker Alex Gibney (Wikileaks: We Steal Secrets) gained exclusive access to Armstrong just as the walls of his secretive world came crashing down. Back in 2009, when Armstrong staged the ill-fated comeback to the Tour de France that later exposed his cheating ways, Gibney and a small crew had tagged along for the ride.

Inside information ... the contributors have plenty of damning stories to tell.

Though that original production was shelved due to Armstrong's famously mercurial micromanagement of his image, it did give Gibney a foot in the door when the wolves of the world media started prowling after the disgraced ex-champ.

As Gibney begins to press his subject for something approaching the truth about what really happened, Armstrong reverts to those micromanaging defence strategies once again.

Yes, there is some factual ground he must concede to his inquisitors. History records those seven lost Tour wins are never coming back. The reasons why are not in dispute.

Nevertheless, what emerges from Gibney's time with his subject is that Armstrong is hardly in any way truly remorseful for his misdeeds on and off the bike.

Other contributors to the documentary - including many fellow teammates from his glory days on the Tour - have their damning stories to tell. But none are as damning as Armstrong's demeanour in the present day. The cat-and-mouse game Armstrong continues to play in accepting the personal and ethical implications of his actions makes for chilling viewing.

The sport of cycling, and the good faith of its many millions of fans, will never be the same again. And that is sad.

Can I leave you with something sadder still? On what we see here, Lance Armstrong may never change for the better.